DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
杯水車薪
简 杯水车薪 · 繁 杯水車薪Mandarin · pinyin bēi shuǐ chē xīn
Meanings
- lit. a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood (idiom); fig. an utterly inadequate measure
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Mandarin tones
1–3–1–1 · bei1 shui3 che1 xin1
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
bui1 seoi2 ce1 san1
Cantonese word readings for 杯水車薪. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
bui1 seoi2 ce1 san1
Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (idiomatic) too inadequate and useless; to no avail
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack